Resources

Underlined words below are lesson vocabulary words that are emphasized and written on sentence strips for my Reading & Writing word wall. I pull off the words off the wall for each lesson, helping students understand this key 'reading and writing' vocabulary can be generalized across texts and topics. The focus on acquiring and using these words is part of a shift in the Common Core Standards towards building students’ academic vocabulary. My words are color coded ‘pink’ for literature/’blue’ for reading strategies/’orange’ for informational text/'yellow' for writing/’green’ for all other words)

Gain student interest and bring students to the same point in learning

Show the Thanksgiving powerpoint - discuss the ideas - "What do you see? Have you done that before?"

Many of the concepts in the powerpoint are based on the article that they'll read - if students have other traditions, they could share them now.

Introduce the vocabulary

Go over the new vocabulary on the whiteboard and encourage kids to share, using the vocabulary - if not restate their phrases. Student says 'I help to collect food and that is good.' You restate - 'Yes you are generous when you help collect food.'

Resources

“When we read informational text, there is organization to the text. Authors organize information to help us understand. Take a look at this online story. How would you say it is organized?”

"The author uses text features such as headings to separate the information. The headings give us ideas about the key details inside informational text. The key details put together a summary that helps us know what’s really important.” As I discuss this, I use these informational text features.

“When an author writes a story, he wants to show the reader the key details. Author’s can show the key details are in different ways.”

"Authors repeat words – those are important words to know."

"The author uses a first or last sentence to tell what’s important."

“Authors use illustrations to verify that summaries are correct.”

Demonstrate the strategy

“Let’s read over the first paragraph of this article about Thanksgiving Traditions.” See how set up paragraph 1 on the whiteboard.

“The words ‘traditions’ and the word ‘Thanksgiving or turkey day’ are repeated. Those are the key details. The last sentence has those words so I’ll use that for the summary of my paragraph. Let me check the verify with the illustration - it does match my summary." Here is a video of me adding ideas to match illustrations.

“Look at the 2nd paragraph. What words are repeated? Do you see those in a sentence?” Repeat the same modeling as the last chapter. See this example of paragraph 2.

“Now I have 2 examples of how you can write a summary with help from the author. I used repeating words, first or last sentence, and illustrationsto figure out the main idea.”

Show how to make the project

“I’ll write my main idea on the page and copy it on the ‘platter’."

"Since we’re reading about Thanksgiving, the main idea of my paragraph will be added to our table so we can have a big feast.”

Verify the text with the illustration. Doing this really added to the students' summaries.

Check over their worksheets for completion.

Make sure they have sufficient summaries and prompt as necessary. They also need to verify that the illustration supports the text. Here is a video of me prompting a student to verify the text with illustrations 2

As students examine text to find support and key details for the main idea, they are using 'close reading' to comprehend vocabulary. This 'close reading' is a shift in the Common Core away from literal reading with answers directly in the text toward comprehensive reading with answers inferred and determined by examination of text structure and ideas verified by the reader. By creating a summary of these details, (RI.2.2) students are demonstrating the ability to use the organization and details in the text to compose a main idea that explains what they've read.

As a group, we wrote one summary for the whole text. "What did the author want us to know about all of these ideas?"

Helping students realize the organization of a text - that paragraphs or sections fit into a whole text, is an important shift in the Common Core Standards. (RI.2.6)

Scaffolding and Special Education: This lesson could be scaffolded up or down, depending on student ability.

For students with academic challenges, it would be best if they work in a group or with the teacher. The text is at 2nd grade level and writing summaries is a difficult skill so they may need the help. The group vocabulary review and sharing would be great for them to hear other students' ideas.

For students with greater academic ability, there should be an expectation of deeper level thinking and higher level vocabulary. When my students read over their summary as they finish, I will ask them if they can think of more descriptive words or can they use words from the whiteboard that we reviewed to make it sound more 'like a 3rd grader'.

Big Idea:
How can I use digital sources to conduct shared research? Students evaluate the relevancy and accuracy of information from multiple sources as they research geographical, historical, and societal facts about Florida.